One of the interesting projects that Intel has been working on is Wireless Display technology, also called WiDi. Not many devices feature WiDi yet, but part of the reason is because the technology didn’t feature HDCP for copy-protected content, which made it worthless for viewing HD video. That is, until now.

Intel has just released WiDi 2.1, and WiDi capable devices can update to it now in order to take advantage of the new features. WiDi 2.1 finally introduces support for HDCP video, which means a WiDi display and compatible Blu-ray players or computers can stream a HD movie to their display without issue, and all the way up to 1080p.

Previously, WiDi worked for analog video and non-HDCP video, but now, if you have a device with a 2nd Generation Intel Core processor, you can update the Wireless Display application and your graphics drivers, and you’ll be ready to stream video to a compatible display.

The new version of WiDi also includes support for 32 and 64-bit systems through the same installer, and can stream 1080p video encoded via H.264 over 802.11n. You’ll still need a display or device on the other end of the stream capable of receiving and displaying WiDi video, so not any old television or computer monitor will do.

WiDi devices aren’t terribly easy to come by just yet, since the technology is so new and because Intel is driving it as part of their Intel Core processor platform. Belkin and Netgear have already partnered to manufacture WiDi adapters for HDTVs that you can plug in and immediately start streaming video to, but it’s unlikely we’ll see broad adoption of wireless video technology until more companies get behind it and displays start coming with WiDi receivers built-in.